As I’ve been going through my backlog of books, I have been enjoying my reading revival. I was steadily working my way through my collection of paperbacks and then I hit a bump in the road with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. It took me a long time to finish this book. I read half almost over a year ago and then abandoned it for awhile and I have recently got back into it. Not surprisingly, the point where I abandoned it was in the “pray” section of the book. This was the part i found least interesting.

Ms. Gilbert is essentially searching for a meaning to her unhappy, privileged life. She ventures to far away lands to find that meaning.

I was interested in her “search for everything” from the eyes of an atheist. I wanted to see how Ms. Gilbert went about her journey for finding some sort of completion in her life. It may seem odd that a staunch atheist is interested in reading about other’s spiritual journey but I actually find these kind of discussions interesting. I often ask others what led them to believe what they do.

However, I have one word for this book: Pretentious.

She takes a trip on the dime of her publisher due to an advance for this very book. She eats, prays, and loves her way through Italy, India, and Indonesia and to be honest, it’s all a bit of an eye roll moment for me. She’s a pretty, rich, American with money to burn so it makes it easy for her to find her spiritual center. I’m not sure what Ms. Gilbert intends for me to take from this piece of work but I suspect that she expects me to feel like she is my new best friend. But I couldn’t feel farther away from that. I find her a turn off, coming from a place of privilege.

I wasn’t sure if this book is supposed to be a “Come to God” book where she is trying to convince me that I need God or if it’s a self-professed account of how she personally came to God. It is probably a mix of both.

I didn’t like how the book wrapped everything up completely and with no loose ends. It’s neatly divided into three sections with each section having a defined theme. Life is messy and rift with loose ends. I felt like I wasn’t reading the real story and that she was leaving out the parts of the story that didn’t fit in with her vision. This made me feel removed from the narrative and wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.

Now for the good. I find it was well-written. If it was a work of fiction, I might have liked it more. I can imagine those desperately looking for some kind of meaning to life can find this comforting but most people will have to look for meaning without taking extravagant trips (which according to her was impossible for her to do within the physical and emotional noise of her life in the U.S.).

If you are looking for a happy spiritual story to affirm that you have made the right choice in God, then this would probably appeal to you. For those on the spiritual fence, this can probably go either way.

Last night, J and I got one of the surprises of our lives. A month or so ago, our awesome friend Kim Price said she wanted to come on our show June 9th to make an announcement. She wouldn’t tell us what what it was but we love having her on the show in general so of course we agreed. We tried guessing but she kept her lips tightly shut! We guessed she’s getting married, moving, having kids, etc. Nothing!

June 9th arrives and by text earlier that day, she tells us she’s nervous. Now we are really stumped. Why would she be nervous? We call her on Skype and shit talk for a little bit before the show (we love that chick.) There are sooooo many people in chat room but I didn’t think anything of it because it’s Kim! Of course there would be a lot of people…

Sometimes, I get by with a little help from my friends. These are friends who love food as much as I do and introduce me to their favorite places to eat in the city.

I have Jay and Renee Valentine, fellow bloggers/podcasters and past guests on Deliciously Louisville, to thank for introducing me to Stevens and Stevens Deli, a hidden gem of a lunch spot on Bardstown Road. The Valentines raved about this restaurants wide selection of sandwiches, tasty toppings and good prices and invited me to join them for an early weekday lunch. They had me at sandwiches.

I’ve driven or walked by Stevens and Stevens dozens of times without noticing this restaurant. I blame the odd restaurant/roommate situation. The deli shares a space with Ditto’s Grill near the busy intersection of Bardstown Road and Grinstead Drive. The Ditto’s whimsical sign eclipses the simple Stevens and Stevens masthead…

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This past weekend we had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with Lance Nelson Porter! We took some props with us with us being the gamers that we are we took some dice, some controllers and a mouse. It was a blast helping him out as he’s doing a 365 day project. We are so proud how they turned out! Please check them out here!